News Analysis India

Tag: Pooja Singhal

  • Arrested for tweeting pic of Shah with jailed IAS officer, filmmaker Avinash Das gets bail

    By PTI

    AHMEDABAD: Filmmaker Avinash Das, arrested by Gujarat Police in a case related to sharing on Twitter a photo of Union Home Minister Amit Shah with arrested IAS officer Pooja Singhal, was released on bail by a court here on Thursday.

    Metropolitan Magistrate M V Chauhan granted bail to Das on the condition that he shall remain present before the Ahmedabad Crime Branch during the first week of every month until the charge sheet is filed.

    The crime branch had arrested Das on Wednesday after picking him up from his Mumbai residence a day before.

    The filmmaker had also been booked for ‘insulting national honour’ by sharing on Instagram and Facebook a photo of a painting of a woman draped in the national flag.

    The court had remanded him in the crime branch custody for one day.

    When he was produced before the court again on Thursday, Das’s lawyer sought bail for him.

    The filmmaker did not share on social media any morphed or fake photos, argued advocate Uvesh Malik.

    The painting of a woman wearing the tricolor was the original creation of Canada-based artist Nimisha Bhanot and it had been put on display during a seminar in Canada about Indian culture and women, he said.

    Das had merely shared the original painting (its photo) in 2017 which did not amount to any crime because the piece of art was not morphed or distorted, advocate Malik argued.

    As to the photo of Shah and Singhal, Malik argued that it had been taken during a public function and it had already gone viral when Das tweeted it.

    Even the crime branch, in the FIR, admitted that the photo was not fake, he said.

    Sharing original art and already published photo was no crime, Malik argued.

    After hearing the arguments, the magistrate granted bail to Das on a personal bond of Rs 10,000.

    Director friend #AvinashDas @avinashonly was arrested today morning by crime branch of Gujarat Police . His anticipatory bail application is pending in Supreme Court . #ISTANDWITHAVINASHDAS pic.twitter.com/qlDw1wVQ9N— DHOOPASHWINI (@DhoopAshwini) July 19, 2022 Das had directed the 2017 film “Anaarkali of Aarah”, starring Swara Bhaskar, Sanjay Mishra and Pankaj Tripathi, and the 2021 movie “Raat Baaki Hai”.

    He had also helmed the Netflix series “She”.

    The Ahmedabad Crime Branch registered a First Information Report against the filmmaker under section 469 (forgery) of the Indian Penal Code as well as provisions of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act and Information Technology Act over his social media posts.

    The FIR against 46-year-old Das was registered in June after he shared a photo showing Singhal, who had been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case, talking to Shah.

    As per the FIR, in the caption with the photo Das claimed the picture was taken a few days before Singhal’s arrest, while it was actually from 2017.

    This was done with the intention to tarnish Shah’s image, the police alleged.

    AHMEDABAD: Filmmaker Avinash Das, arrested by Gujarat Police in a case related to sharing on Twitter a photo of Union Home Minister Amit Shah with arrested IAS officer Pooja Singhal, was released on bail by a court here on Thursday.

    Metropolitan Magistrate M V Chauhan granted bail to Das on the condition that he shall remain present before the Ahmedabad Crime Branch during the first week of every month until the charge sheet is filed.

    The crime branch had arrested Das on Wednesday after picking him up from his Mumbai residence a day before.

    The filmmaker had also been booked for ‘insulting national honour’ by sharing on Instagram and Facebook a photo of a painting of a woman draped in the national flag.

    The court had remanded him in the crime branch custody for one day.

    When he was produced before the court again on Thursday, Das’s lawyer sought bail for him.

    The filmmaker did not share on social media any morphed or fake photos, argued advocate Uvesh Malik.

    The painting of a woman wearing the tricolor was the original creation of Canada-based artist Nimisha Bhanot and it had been put on display during a seminar in Canada about Indian culture and women, he said.

    Das had merely shared the original painting (its photo) in 2017 which did not amount to any crime because the piece of art was not morphed or distorted, advocate Malik argued.

    As to the photo of Shah and Singhal, Malik argued that it had been taken during a public function and it had already gone viral when Das tweeted it.

    Even the crime branch, in the FIR, admitted that the photo was not fake, he said.

    Sharing original art and already published photo was no crime, Malik argued.

    After hearing the arguments, the magistrate granted bail to Das on a personal bond of Rs 10,000.

    Director friend #AvinashDas @avinashonly was arrested today morning by crime branch of Gujarat Police . His anticipatory bail application is pending in Supreme Court . #ISTANDWITHAVINASHDAS pic.twitter.com/qlDw1wVQ9N— DHOOPASHWINI (@DhoopAshwini) July 19, 2022 Das had directed the 2017 film “Anaarkali of Aarah”, starring Swara Bhaskar, Sanjay Mishra and Pankaj Tripathi, and the 2021 movie “Raat Baaki Hai”.

    He had also helmed the Netflix series “She”.

    The Ahmedabad Crime Branch registered a First Information Report against the filmmaker under section 469 (forgery) of the Indian Penal Code as well as provisions of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act and Information Technology Act over his social media posts.

    The FIR against 46-year-old Das was registered in June after he shared a photo showing Singhal, who had been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case, talking to Shah.

    As per the FIR, in the caption with the photo Das claimed the picture was taken a few days before Singhal’s arrest, while it was actually from 2017.

    This was done with the intention to tarnish Shah’s image, the police alleged.

  • Jharkhand IAS officer Pooja Singhal sent to judicial custody till June 8 in money laundering case 

    By PTI

    RANCHI: A special PMLA court on Wednesday sent Pooja Singhal, the suspended IAS officer from Jharkhand, to judicial custody till June 8 in connection with a money laundering case linked to alleged embezzlement of MGNREGA funds, said a lawyer of the Enforcement Directorate which is investigating it.

    The bureaucrat was in the ED custody for 14 days.

    After being produced before the special PMLA court of Prbhat Kumar Sharma by the ED, Singhal was sent to Birsa Munda Central Jail at Hotwar in Ranchi.

    “Singhal on completion of 14 days in ED custody was produced today before the special PMLA court and was remanded to judicial custody till June 8 as per court orders. She was sent to Hotwar Jail,” special prosecutor of the ED, BMP Singh, told PTI.

    Singhal will be produced before the court of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on June 8 via video conferencing.

    The ED requested the court to grant permission to its sleuths to interrogate her in jail whenever required.

    “I argued that it is a larger conspiracy and we have to interrogate her again. There is a legal provision that we (ED) cannot get her in ED custody for more than 14 days. So we submitted a prayer to the court to order the jail superintendent that whenever required we can question her. The court asked us to file a separate petition when such requirement arises,” Singh said.

    On the request of Singhal’s counsel for her medical check-up, the court said this can be done by a jail doctor, Singh claimed.

    “We will seek the court’s permission to interrogate her in jail as it seems that there is a larger conspiracy. Examination of the digital devices of the officer is being conducted. The investigation is in a crucial stage with the emergence of new evidence in the case,” the ED counsel said.

    Singhal’s chartered accountant Suman Kumar was earlier sent to judicial custody by the court of PMLA in connection with the money laundering case.

    Kumar was also in the custody of the Enforcement Directorate for 13 days.

    The 44-year-old IAS officer was suspended by the Jharkhand government on May 12 as part of the procedure undertaken, in case of a government servant being arrested in a criminal case, within 24 hours of the receipt of information.

    Singhal, who served as the state mining department secretary, was arrested on the previous day by the ED.

    The agency had produced her before the special PMLA court which remanded her in the ED custody for five days from May 12, and later extended twice till Wednesday.

    Based on the “incriminating materials” seized during searches, several suspected persons, including district mining officers, have been called for questioning.

    Earlier, the agency had informed the court that the digital devices of both Singhal and her CA, which were seized, had been sent to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory.

    ED is also examining all details related to Pulse Hospital, allegedly owned by the bureaucrat and her family, the construction of the facility, purchase of equipment as it is suspected that the medical facility was used to “launder” money.

    She was arrested in the money laundering case linked to alleged embezzlement of MGNREGA funds and some other suspicious financial transactions after the ED raided her premises on May 6 along with that of her businessman husband Abhishek Jha, the chartered accountant and others.

    The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 (MGNREGA) is aimed at enhancing the livelihood security of households in rural areas of the country by providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year.

    Suman Kumar was arrested following the seizure of more than Rs 17.79 crore in cash allegedly from his residential and office premises.

  • HC rejects transit pre-arrest bail plea of filmmaker booked for sharing Amit Shah’s photo with arrested IAS officer

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday rejected the transit pre-arrest bail plea filed by filmmaker Avinash Das, who was booked by the Gujarat Police for sharing a photo of Union Home Minister Amit Shah with Jharkhand cadre IAS officer Pooja Singhal, who was recently arrested by the ED in a money laundering case.

    A vacation bench of Justice Bharati Dangre rejected Das’ transit anticipatory bail plea, filed through advocate Adil Khatri, and directed the filmmaker to “approach the appropriate forum for relief”.

    Justice Dangre said that Ahmedabad, where the FIR against Das was registered, was not too far from Mumbai.

    Das should approach the court concerned in Ahmedabad for protection from arrest or any other relief pertaining to the case, the judge said.

    The Enforcement Directorate earlier this month arrested Jharkhand mining secretary Singhal in a case of money laundering involving alleged diversion of MGNREGA funds, and also seized over Rs 18 crore in cash from the house of a chartered accountant, allegedly linked to Singhal.

    An official from Ahmedabad Police’s Detection of Crime Branch last week said Das (46) shared the photo on his Twitter handle on May 8.

    The photo showed Shah and Singhal at a public event five years ago, but Das tweeted it to mislead people and defame the minister’s reputation, the official had said.

    In the FIR registered by the Ahmedabad police, Das has also been booked under the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act and the IT Act, for allegedly insulting the national flag by posting on March 17 a morphed picture of a woman wearing a tricolour on his Facebook account.

    Das had directed the 2017 film ‘Anaarkali of Aarah’, starring Swara Bhaskar, Sanjay Mishra and Pankaj Tripathi.

  • Jharkhand money laundering probe: Remand of IAS Pooja Singhal, CA Suman Kumar extended for four days

    Express News Service

    RANCHI: The Special PMLA Court has extended the remand of suspended IAS Pooja Singhal and CA Suman Kumar for other four-days. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had prayed for extending the remand of 9 and 5 days respectively for Singhal and Kumar, but granted only four day remand for each of them.

    The Enforcement Directorate, after interrogation for over 15 hours, had arrested mining secretary Pooja Singhal on Wednesday in a money laundering case linked to alleged embezzlement of MGNREGA funds and other charges while Chartered accountant Suman Kumar, associated with Singhal, had already been arrested three days back. A day after his arresting, the State Government suspended Singhal on May 12.

    ED was earlier given five-day remand for Pooja Singhal which ended on Monday.

    “Both were produced before the Court by ED seeking nine-day remand for Singhal and five-day remand for Kumar, but they granted four-day remand for each of them,” said ED Counsel BMP Singh.  

    They will be confronted from the digital device obtained from their possession, he added.

    Meanwhile, District Mining Officers (DMO) of Pakur and Dumka turned up at the zonal office of the Enforcement Directorate in Ranchi for interrogation while the Sahibganj DMO has sought some more time as he is busy with the marriage of his daughter and he is on leave till May 20.

    ED is also said to have written to Apple India seeking mobile details of mining secretary Pooja Singhal. WhatsApp has also been contacted for her chat details.

    The 2000-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer has been taken into ED custody under the relevant sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). 

    Singhal was arrested on second day of the questioning being done by the ED officials after her replies to the questions asked by ED during questioning were not satisfactory and her replies were evasive.

    According to the information provided to the court by ED earlier after arresting of CA Suman Kumar, Rs 1.43 crore more than the known sources of her income were recovered from the bank accounts of Pooja Singhal while she was Deputy Commissioner in Khunti, Palamu and Chatra. 

    The ED also claimed that Singhal purchased as many as 13 insurance policies by paying a premium of Rs 80.81 lakh and closed them before completion of their tenure and got Rs 84.64 lakh against it.

    Notably, the ED on May 6 conducted raids at several locations, including that of Pooja Singhal, in connection with a money laundering case linked to alleged embezzlement of over Rs 18 crore MGNREGA funds in Khunti district during 2008-2011.

    The raids were conducted at a total of 18 locations including Bihar, Rajasthan, Haryana, NCR as well as Ranchi, Khunti and Dhanbad in Jharkhand.